Naomi Hirose, President of TEPCO definitely said on January 10 for the first time that TEPCO had "no intention of claiming its right to legal statute of limitations (3 years)" regarding the compensation to damages arising from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

President Hirose and Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe visited with Governor Yuhei Sato at the Fukushima Prefectural government office on January 10. Mr. Hirose made specific remarks for the first time regarding the issue, saying "We have no intention at all (to claim our right to statute of limitations). It is a legal problem, but we would like to come up with something concrete." Governor Sato demanded that TEPCO fully compensate the victims.

According to the Article 724 of the Civil Code, one loses the right to compensation unless one files a claim for damages within 3 years of first becoming aware of the damages from offense by others. The purpose of this article is to quickly establish relations of right. Governor Sato had asked TEPCO not to assert its claim to statute of limitations.

面会後、広瀬社長は「社内で対応策を検討中で、近々発表できると思う。裁判で消滅時効の権利を主張するつもりはない」と記者団に語った。

After the meeting, Mr. Hirose said to the press, "We're discussing the measures, and I hope to announce them soon. We are not going to assert our claim to statute of limitations in lawsuits."

There are many who haven't even received the applications yet. For those who have received the applications, the application is such a legal mumbo jumbo that many have simply given up.

Then on January 16, six days later, TEPCO revealed their plan. Instead of statute of limitations as stipulated by the Civil Code, the company will use a modified statute of limitations - 3 years from the time when the application forms are received by people affected by the accident.

TEPCO and Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund has decided that the period to claim damages from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident will be three years from the date when people affected by the accident receive their application documents. It has been pointed out that the three-year statute of limitations from the start of the accident may happen, but the new plan will move the date further back from which to count three years so that people affected by the accident are able to receive compensations.

茂木敏充経済産業相に15日に提出した「総合特別事業計画」の変更申請に盛り込んだ

The plan is part of the change request for the "Comprehensive Special Business Plan" that TEPCO submitted to Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, on January 15.

So it's a done deal. The plan is submitted, not because the plan will be analyzed or discussed by the government but as the last formality after everything in the plan has been already informally discussed and agreed upon by all the parties involved, in this case the national government and TEPCO (which are one and the same).

Very clever of them. The management of Chisso should have used the same ruse.

TEPCO's Hirose by the way holds an MBA from Yale University. Minister Motegi is a former McKinsey consultant. They probably understand each other very well.

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comments:

TEPGOV can move the date forward until hell freezes over it isn't going to make them look compassionate to their victims. But the history books won't remember the victims all that will be remember is TEPGOV went that extra mile to be sure everyone had a chance to have their claim low balled or outright rejected.

Guess they have to go after the builders of the nuclear plant...hope GE is listening...cause it will happen..lawyers are already busy I am sure..and TEPCO and the Japanese government will happily throw them under the bus....

added a chart of the increase in child cancers starting more than 5 years after chernobyl.. diag from informable.. you cant have a statute of limitations on ionising and toxicological damaged people.. its just crazy! thanks for youe post.. i used the japanese also as we have a growing japanese viewing base.. hope it attracts more to your great site..sean arclight

One of the problems some victims are running into is the documentation TEPCO requires has been lost in the natural disaster portion of the overall disaster. These people will probably be forced into accepting a basic generic settlement that in no way reflects their actual losses.

If it is anything like US law there is usually a provision that limitation begin to run after one discovers an injury, so for people outside the evacuation areas, while there might not be obvious evidence besides low level exposure if illness later results it might be possible to file a claim then.

Car Accidents Claims If you have been a victim of a car accident on the UK roads and you are not responsible in any way for the mishap, you can make a claim for compensation. The claim process is not easy, especially if you are a layman with no knowledge of the accident laws of the country. In this instance, you can seek legal assistance from a law firm like Accident Claims. [More Information]

About my coverage of Japan Earthquake of March 11

I am Japanese, and I not only read Japanese news sources for information on earthquake and the Fukushima Nuke Plant but also watch press conferences via the Internet when I can and summarize my findings, adding my observations.

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Well, this was, until March 11, 2011. Now it is taken over by the events in Japan, first earthquake and tsunami but quickly by the nuke reactor accident. It continues to be a one-person (me) blog, and I haven't even managed to update the sidebars after 5 months... Thanks for coming, spread the word.------------------This is an aggregator site of blogs coming out of SKF (double-short financials ETF) message board at Yahoo.

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